I have been somewhat successful in regards to increasing skill sets, and some minor equipment acquisitions. I try to seize every opportunity to learn new skills like gardening carpentry, and purchase minor equipment like a set of walkie talkies (just some examples). I've also been attempting to strengthen the community around me to gain some allies for a crisis.

I'm not really asking for any advice since I think I've exhausted all avenues, but I'm seeking some peace of mind or personal experience from others.

I know this post makes me look really dumb, and I'm becoming aware of my dim wits (lol) but try to understand I am doing the best with what I have

I don't think the anxiety ever really gets below a dull roar, because there's just a certain amount of change and misfortune that's bound to happen to all of us. Like life in general, I see prepping as more journey than destination. Guaranteed there's plenty of folks you'd think have this prepping thing all figured out who still have huge vulnerabilities. We're never going to be anywhere near as prepared for every possible contingency as we'd like to be, so we just keep trudging along doing the best we can with what we have.

You say you aren't any farther along then when you started, but then you mention purchasing radios, increasing your skill sets, and building community. Plus it sounds like you are living in some tough financial times and while you say it's one step forward & two back, you are still treading water, which means you've got some frugality skills and are using them.

You say you aren't any farther along then when you started, but then you mention purchasing radios, increasing your skill sets, and building community. Plus it sounds like you are living in some tough financial times and while you say it's one step forward & two back, you are still treading water, which means you've got some frugality skills and are using them.

Sounds to me like you are being too hard on yourself.

this ^^

remember Jack's motto - helping you live a better life if things get tough, or even if they don't. Your tough and my tough are different things. Don't compare to Cedar here. Or Archer. Or me. Just live your life, prepping as you can, surviving as you can't. Remember Dainty - she can't work on prepping, just surviving. Ditto with Carl - everyday he posts is a battle won. You are surviving, and slowly prepping. Where were you 8 years ago when you registered here? 5 years ago? Could you have tread water, as Frugal said, without the minor prepping skills you have gained? Take a deep breath and keep swimming. We'll all make it together, separately.

Skill building and community are the 2 most important preps, so sounds like you have been making lots of progress.

Practicing frugal living is a skill, and an important one. If times get tougher, you will be a good resource to others, helping them thru their tough times with what you have learned.

Would love to see more of the list of what you have learned and what you think you are short on prep-wise, so we can help. There are more of us here with frugal prep skills out of neccessity than you may think, and we can share ideas with you, and I am sure that much of what you have learned could help us.

Thanks for the mention,SUNSHINE. I have advanced ,stage 4 colon cancer...probably from all the smoke that has been blown up it over the years, yet I prepare as though I will live forever.I have faith I will be at an advantage with the common threats and some of the major threats,though a 'lifetime' warranty might not impress me as it used to. I have been told how much time I have by cancer specialists ...that time has long past. Doctors can only do so much and so much more depends on attitude and confidence.

Your skills are the biggest asset that you can carry every day and add much to your confidence after the PANIC when you realize that your life depends on YOU. Small steps are big accomplishments . Persistence and adding to your 'skills' tool kit will aide your peace of mind and ability to bounce back from the wolves that follow us and pick off the weakest of mankind...Sorry ,I just watched THE GREY,a most interesting movie on survival.My 'wolf' may get me one day,but till then, I plan to live like I don't know he's back there...following and waiting. I refuse to just give up and now that you know what haunts your trail ...admit that you don't plan to give up.

I garden in an unfenced property by simply hand tossing a few seeds that cost little and letting nature raise my crops. Were I physically better able ,I would till the soil and care for my hand tossed garden better...yet I get potatos,sweet potatos ,onions,greens and varieties of squash as it costs me very little as I even plant sun flowers for the critters and 'harvest' from that part of my garden ,on occasion. Each day is a victory.

This may lessen your anxiety. A motto that has made sense to me over time is as follows: You should never be held back by worry. If there is a situation that would worry you, there are really only two choices: If it is something that you have absolutely no control over, it is pointless to worry about it or to let it cause anxiety, because it's out of your control. No action you take or amount of worrying will change the situation, so don't worry. If, on the other hand, you are worried about a situation that you can control to the point where it doesn't worry you any longer, then take those action (as you have over these past years) and don't worry. In my mind, anxiety feeds on not making one of these two choices. You have obviously made good choices and have done the best you can with what you have and that is one of your most important survival skills.

It took me from 1996 to 2015 to get prepped to my satisfaction womule...and in 90 seconds it was all gone.

Sooooo..

- truly you will never be prepped, as you have no idea what kind of shtf will hit you. You just do the best you can. And if it is all gone, just plug along and start back at square one. It is perfectly OK to cuss about it, but I found just going about it as a new adventure is the best route.

- store what preps you can in your brain. Something which is very mobile and no one can take from you. Look at the aboriginals who survive with very little. Think of some outback Australian native, or someone in the depths of the Amazon or somewhere. They survive as they have the knowledge in their brain.

- just don't book learn. Learn from practical hands on. Learn from Elders.

- expect to fail every now and again. Failure in my book is not necessarily a bad thing.

- have confidence in yourself. SP and I survived as I had practical skills that I had done over and over for many years, so although I did not have my regular tools, I had the knowledge to use what was at hand to accomplish what I needed to do. I had confidence we would at least muddle through.

- you really do not need money to prep. Change your perspective of how to go about it.

- worry gets you nowhere, but expending energy you could use elsewhere. Either it has not happened, you can do something about it, or you can't. No use if it has not happened. There must be something you can do if it happens. And if you can't do something, wait a bit for the path you can take to manifest. It always does, you just got to outwait it.

- remember, where there is a will, there really always is a way. Really. Yeah, really.

You should download this free pdf of Dale Carnegie's 200 page book "How to stop worrying and start living". Grab this stuff while it is still out there for free. This is the best book on anxiety. You need to do the best you can and give up worrying about the rest ..

Here is a 9 hour video (audio actually) of the book, if anyone knows how to download this without joining some membership thing let me know. This video was around for awhile, then was banned off of utube and now it's back

Oh please dont compare yourself to me... I'm no way an expert, I am just learning what i can and doing what i can. I'm no way perfect or expert in anything. I have a list of projects that gets longer, not shorter. There is not enough time in the day/week/month to do them all, or $, or I have no efing clue how to do them. But I learn, I teach myself, I bug ppl who I hope know. I just try to make sure my step backwards are countered by forward steps..

osubuckeye4

Womule, I was going to respond to this yesterday with the generic, "your post doesn't make you come across as dumb, and that we all go about prepping in our own way."

Then I slept on it and I thought about it a bit more.

Not only is your post not dumb, but the more I think about it, the more I completely understand where you're coming from.

I stopped listening to TSP awhile back because it made me feel "anxious" (for lack of a better word) about my own situation.

There were all these podcasts about swales and cultivating huge acreages of land and beekeeping and yada yada yada... and here I am in a (very nice/safe suburb)1100 sq. foot 2 bedroom condo with my wife and kid, just paying off debt and building wealth.

All I can say about your anxiety is... sometimes it's best to unplug a bit and simplify.

Rather than trying to take it all in at once and make dramatic measurable changes, focus on a few areas where you can really become an expert and chip away at them incrementally.

This post isn't a knock on Jack, the forum, or the podcast at all. I'm sure there are a lot of listeners who can sit through an episode on swales and then turn the volume down, head outside, and put the knowledge to use. I'm not one of those people, but that's okay.

I can focus on personal financial security and the physical and emotional well being of myself and my family. Even if I'm not prepped for nuclear Armageddon, I can rest assured that if I or my wife lose our job unexpectedly, we'll be fine for 9 months while we look for comparable employment.

TLDR version: Focus on the stuff you can control, be mindful of the stuff you can't... but don't let it crush you. Chip away on the things you can control, and you'll start to see those things that seem scary and impossible melt away (and don't worry, they'll be replaced by other scary and impossible things... that's life)

There are plenty of things in this world to be anxious about, prepping shouldn't be one of them. I'm sure that most, if not all, of this community have started out with a realization that they needed to increase their reliance on themselves. It really doesn't matter why; we all have our own motivations. We also have a wide variety of resources, both in terms of time, obligations, financial, etc. We also have different goals based on what we perceive as preparation and self reliance. Moving "off the Grid" and becoming totally self sufficient may be one way to go. Homesteading into a small community might be another. Working a "9 to 5" while raising a family, paying off debts and slowly building up a store of emergency supplies, resources and knowledge is another (although now retired, that was is my plan). No one effort towards feeling secure is better than another; it all depends on what will ease any anxiety or worry about how to remain secure in whatever type of events you are concerned about, and how to reach that goal. There will always be set backs. Figuring out how to get past reversals in fortune is also a valuable skill, for living as well as prepping. Prepping doesn't have to become an all inclusive life-style. I prefer to think of it as an interesting hobby, with benefits. Family and self come first. Doing small things, over time, to secure that will add up. Enjoy the sunshine and don't spend too much time watching for storm clouds.

I know this post makes me look really dumb, and I'm becoming aware of my dim wits (lol) but try to understand I am doing the best with what I have

This post does not make you look dumb. You have reached a benchmark and are holding tight. This is a good thing. At times we all get knocked back two steps especially some of us that were affected by the recent hurricanes. If I let it affect me in a negative way I would have given up long ago. One step forward and two back is better than no steps forward and three steps back. Everything is a learning experience. Building a greenhouse and almost cutting your thumb off with a table saw could be seen as a positive and a negative. I viewed it as a positive and a reinforcement of using caution when working with power tools. True story.